Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Course Staff
Course Convener: Dr. Alex von Brasch, Room EE338, a.vonbrasch@unsw.edu.au
Project Coordinator: Luke Dolan, lukedolan42@gmail.com
Consultations: The lectures and labs are the primary avenues of contact between the teaching
staff and the students. The consultations are not meant to replace these, but to allow the
students to raise concerns (or ask questions) they might have with the lecturer in charge, should
the standard contact channels prove inadequate. Consultations with the lecturer can be
arranged by email. Note that the lecturer has a full-time commitment in industry and so will not
generally be available in person outside of the contact hours and consultation times. ALL email
enquiries should be made from your student email address with ELEC3117 in the subject line,
otherwise they may not be answered.
Keeping Informed: Announcements may be made during classes, via email (to your
student email address) and/or via online learning and teaching platforms in this course, we
will use Moodle https://moodle.telt.unsw.edu.au/login/index.php. Please note that you will be
deemed to have received this information, so you should take careful note of all
announcements.
Students are strongly encouraged to post questions on these forums the lecturer, project
coordinator, and demonstrators check these forums regularly and will respond to these
questions in a timely manner.
Course Summary
Contact Hours
The course consists of 2 hours of lectures and a 3-hour laboratory session each week. The
laboratories begin in Week 2 with the purpose of finding a lab partner and discussing project
ideas.
Assessment
Project Development Proposal 15%
Laboratory Attendance 5%
Project Seminar and Presentation 25%
Final Report 25%
Final Exam (3 hours) 30%
Course Details
Credits
This is a 6 UoC course and the expected workload is 1012 hours per week throughout the
13 week semester.
Following Courses
The course is a pre-requisite for under-taking ELEC4120, Thesis A.
The following course in the design stream is ELEC4123, Electrical Design Proficiency this
is a core, Level 4 course. For students wishing to develop further in the entrepreneurial and
small-business aspects should consider ELEC4445, Entrepreneurial Engineering, offered as
a fourth year technical elective.
Learning outcomes
After successful completion of this course, you should be able to:
This course is designed to provide the above learning outcomes which arise from targeted
graduate capabilities listed in Appendix A. The targeted graduate capabilities broadly
support the UNSW and Faculty of Engineering graduate capabilities (listed in Appendix B).
This course also addresses the Engineers Australia (National Accreditation Body) Stage I
competency standard as outlined in Appendix C.
Syllabus
Design Project Management: Introduction to scheduling, costing, marketing, standards,
patents, quality, safety, (electronic) manufacturing methods, engineering innovation, Report
Writing and Oral Presentations. Design Methodology: Systematic design procedures, design
documentation. Designing for quality, manufacture, maintenance, minimum life cycle cost.
Aspects of Electronic Design: Component selection, tolerances, passive component
characteristics. Also EMC, Earthing, and PCB layout principles. Engineering Drawing using
AutoCAD and Graphical Communications: Projections, dimensioning and drawing
interpretation. Group Project: Students are required to design and build an electrical
engineering project. This process will include producing specifications, detailed design,
prototype production and testing. The Design will be presented in a seminar and
documented in two formal technical reports that also consider scheduling, marketing and
business plans.
Teaching Strategies
Delivery Mode
The design project plays a major role in the learning process for this course, since it provides
an opportunity for you to practice many of the methods which are taught in lectures. In
particular, project management, electronic prototyping, properties of electronic components
and many other areas of teaching in this course cannot be properly appreciated without
undertaking a serious concurrent design project. Lectures also play a very important role in
the learning process for this course. Lectures are designed to supply students with much
valuable information to assist in their projects, while also providing a broad framework for
design, including many facets which cannot be experienced properly within a student project.
Lectures
Lectures cover technical aspects of detailed design, as well as broader aspects of design,
including marketing and economics. All material covered in lectures is examinable, not just
that which directly relates to student projects. Lecture notes will be provided incrementally, to
accompany the lectures. You should note carefully, that the lecture notes and lectures are
not the same. By and large, the lecture notes are carefully prepared written materials,
designed to be read. With some exceptions, PowerPoint slides are not lecture notes. You
should realise by now that PowerPoint slides are aids, designed to accompany an oral
presentation. By themselves, lecture slides have little teaching value.
Project/Laboratory Component
The project is the major component of the work in ELEC/TELE/PHTN 3117. It represents
over half of the total marks for the subject. Therefore, to do well in this subject you must do
well in your design project. Even more importantly, you must pass the laboratory component.
Failure to do so may result in a UF (Unacceptable Fail), even if your overall final mark is
greater than 50%. This project requires much more than just designing and constructing an
electronic circuit. It requires the consideration of a broad range of Engineering and strategic
business issues, such as target market, competition, costing, timing etc.
You are required to attend laboratory from Week 2 to Week 12. Laboratory attendance WILL
be kept, and you MUST attend at least 80% of labs to pass the course.
Laboratory Exemption
There is no laboratory exemption for this course. Regardless of whether equivalent labs
have been completed in previous courses, all students enrolled in this course for Semester
2, 2015 must take the labs. If, for medical reasons, (note that a valid medical certificate must
be provided) you are unable to attend a lab, you need to inform either the Course Convener
or the Project Coordinator.
Assessment
The assessment scheme in this course reflects the intention to assess your learning
progress through the semester. Ongoing assessment occurs through the project assessment
tasks laboratory attendance, project development proposal, and the project seminar.
Project Selection
You must submit a project selection form by Friday of Week 3. The form is to be submitted
on Moodle. Before making your project selection you also should select a partner, as
projects are to be done in pairs. In the event that you have not been able to find a lab
partner it is possible to submit an individual project selection form and a partner will be found
for you. This is not recommended, however. More information on the project may be found
on the course website.
Project design teams are nominally composed of only two students. Project teams of three
will be considered only where otherwise unavoidable. In order to achieve project teams of
two, it is typically necessary for some students to change the laboratory session in which
they are enrolled. This is because project team members must all attend the same
scheduled laboratory session.
Final Report
The final report is due by 10pm of the Friday in Week 13, submitted by Moodle along with a
printed copy handed in to the School Office. The focus of the final report is on describing the
detailed design and the subsequent plan for manufacturing/further development as well as
the business plan. This assessment task contributes 25% of the total course grade. Further
details of the final report will be provided closer to the date.
Late reports will attract a penalty of 10% of the maximum attainable mark per day late
(including weekends). For example, if the report is two days late and achieves a raw mark of
87%, the final result for this report will be 80% (since this is the maximum attainable mark,
given it is two days late). However, a report achieving a raw mark of 67% that is two days
late will still achieve a final mark of 67%.
Final Exam
The exam in this course is a standard closed-book 3 hour written examination, comprising
four compulsory questions. University approved calculators are allowed. The examination for
this course focuses on the important aspects of the course curriculum that are difficult to
cover through a student project technical aspects such as electromagnetic compatibility
and manufacturing limitations, as well as the important non-technical aspects of engineering
design, such as patents, quality, safety, and standards. The final exam accounts 30% of the
total course grade. Please note that you must pass the final exam in order to pass the
course.
Relationship of Assessment Methods to Learning Outcomes
Assessment 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Laboratory work - - - -
Development Proposal
Project Seminar and Demonstration
Final Report
Final exam - - - - -
Course Resources
Textbooks
There are no required texts for this course. If there were one, it would be the first text from
the following list of recommended books:
Reference books
K.T. Ulrich and S.D. Eppinger, Product Design and Development, McGraw-Hill,
2000 (2nd edition). This book provides a good overview of the design process with a
number of relevant case studies to illustrate the methods discussed. It includes
sections on product costing and project management, as well as methodologies for
market analysis and concept generation. This text is easy and enjoyable to read and
may be purchased from the UNSW bookstore. However, it does not touch on the
details of electronic design, or a number of other topics covered in the course.
J.E. Salt and R Rothery, Design For Electrical and Computer Engineers, John
Wiley & Sons, 2002. This book covers key aspects of design at a high level, but with
quite a few examples. Strong on user needs/requirements and high level design.
Covers a variety of design approaches, project management, and costing issues.
This text is easy to read and may be purchased from the UNSW bookstore. However,
it does not touch on the details of electronic design, or a number of other topics
covered in the course.
P. Horowitz and W. Hill, The Art of Electronics, Cambridge University Press,
1989 (2nd edition). This book is an excellent reference for electronic design issues
that may be required to complete your project.
D. A. Norman, The Design of Everyday Things, Currency-Doubleday, 1990. A
very interesting read. Ever wondered why you just walked into a door, or tried to pull
a sliding door? This book discusses the design of the everyday objects that we take
for granted.
Students are reminded that the UNSW library is an excellent resource.
On-line resources
Moodle
For course notes, up-to-date lecture schedules and related links, the primary website for this
course will be http://moodle.telt.unsw.edu.au. You should check the web-site regularly,
especially before attending lectures. AutoCAD software is available for download from the
course website.
Other Matters
Academic Honesty and Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the unacknowledged use of other peoples work, including the copying of
assignment works and laboratory results from other students. Plagiarism is considered a
form of academic misconduct, and the University has very strict rules that include some
severe penalties. For UNSW policies, penalties and information to help you avoid plagiarism,
see https://student.unsw.edu.au/plagiarism. To find out if you understand plagiarism correctly,
try this short quiz: https://student.unsw.edu.au/plagiarism-quiz.
Workload
It is expected that you will spend at least ten to twelve hours per week studying a 6 UoC
course, from Week 1 until the final assessment, including both face-to-face classes and
independent, self-directed study. In periods where you need to need to complete
assignments or prepare for examinations, the workload may be greater. Over-commitment
has been a common source of failure for many students. You should take the required
workload into account when planning how to balance study with employment and other
activities.
Attendance
Regular and punctual attendance at all classes is expected. UNSW regulations state that if
students attend less than 80% of scheduled classes they may be refused final assessment.
Administrative Matters
On issues and procedures regarding such matters as special needs, equity and diversity,
occupational health and safety, enrolment, rights, and general expectations of students,
please refer to the School and UNSW policies:
http://www.engineering.unsw.edu.au/electrical-engineering/policies-and-procedures
https://my.unsw.edu.au/student/atoz/ABC.html
Appendix A: Targeted Graduate Capabilities
Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications programs are designed to address the
following targeted capabilities which were developed by the school in conjunction with the
requirements of professional and industry bodies:
Developing digital and information literacy and lifelong learning skills through
assignment work.
Developing ethical practitioners who are collaborative and effective team workers,
through group activities, seminars and tutorials.
Developing independent, self-directed professionals who are enterprising, innovative,
creative and responsive to change, through challenging design and project tasks.
Developing citizens, who can apply their discipline in other contexts, are culturally
aware and environmentally responsible, through interdisciplinary tasks, seminars and
group activities.
Appendix C: Engineers Australia (EA) Professional
Engineer Competency Standard
computing
PE1.3 In-depth understanding of specialist bodies of knowledge
PE1.4 Discernment of knowledge development and research directions
PE1.5 Knowledge of engineering design practice
PE1.6 Understanding of scope, principles, norms, accountabilities of
sustainable engineering practice
solving
PE2.2 Fluent application of engineering techniques, tools and resources
Application